SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/23/2013
12:50 PM
My Worship Time Focus: The Unlawfulness
of Jesus’ Trials
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Mark
14:44-65
Message of the
verses: I suppose that when one
reads through the account of the trials of Jesus, and yes there were two trials
with three phases in each trial, that you may wonder if everything was done
according to the law of that day and age.
I have just finished listening to a sermon by John MacArthur on this
section of Scripture for the second time and his conclusion was that there was
nothing legal at all with any portion of those trials. We have to begin with the book of Deuteronomy
to see what the Law of Moses had to say about how such things should take
place, and by doing this we must remember that the religious leaders of Israel
were all so proud about their ability of keeping the Law. Jesus spoke to them about this when He stated
that the people of Israel should listen to them whenever they were talking to
them about the Law of Moses, the trouble is that many times it had to do with
tradition and not the Law of Moses.
Let us look at the book of Deuteronomy chapter sixteen,
and we must remember that the book of Deuteronomy means the second or renewing
of the Law, which was written after all of the first generation children of
Israel had died in the wilderness so that Moses could give them the Law
too. Verses 18-20 of chapter 16 state, “18
¶ "You shall appoint for yourself
judges and officers in all your towns which the LORD your God is giving you,
according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous
judgment. 19 "You shall not distort justice;
you shall not be partial,
and you shall not take a
bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of
the righteous. 20 "Justice, and only justice, you
shall pursue, that you may live and possess the land which the LORD your
God is giving you.” When we look at these
verses we know that some of the things mentioned here were not followed by
those trying Jesus. There were bribes
given to some of those who were testifying against Jesus for sure. This is just a small example of the
unlawfulness of Jesus’ trials.
There were leaders in towns of Israel in the time when
Jesus was upon the earth that would judge crimes. This body of those who heard cases in each
town were called Sanhedrin and the main Sanhedrin was found in Jerusalem which was
where Jesus was tried. MacArthur states
that it was not legal to have a trial at night or even begin one in the
afternoon. The laws that they had in
place were good laws, but they were not kept.
We know that this was all planned out by God and He used the miscarriage
of justice to send His Son to the cross to die , exactly at the time the
Passover lambs were killed so that it would fulfill Scripture and of course His
death would pay for our sins. Those who
judged Jesus will one day be judged by Jesus at the Great White Throne Judgment
mentioned in the book of Revelations. I
want to mention one more thing about the miscarriage of justice and that is
from those who took the bribes to testify against Jesus, which of course was
wrong, but the Law stated that if a person give false testimony against a
person that they were to have the punishment of the crime be put upon
them. “"If a malicious witness
rises up against a man to accuse him of wrongdoing, 17 then both the men who have the dispute shall
stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who will be in office
in those days. 18 "The judges shall
investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness and he has
accused his brother falsely, 19 then you shall do to him just as he
had intended to do to his brother. Thus you shall purge the evil from
among you. (Deuteronomy 19:16-19).”
“53 ¶ They led Jesus away to the high priest; and
all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes gathered together. 54 Peter had followed Him at a distance, right
into the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the officers and
warming himself at the fire. 55 Now the
chief priests and the whole Council kept trying to obtain testimony against
Jesus to put Him to death, and they were not finding any. 56 For many were giving false testimony against
Him, but their testimony was not consistent. 57
Some stood up and began to give false testimony against Him, saying,
58 "We heard Him say, ’I will
destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another
made without hands.’" 59 Not even
in this respect was their testimony consistent. 60 The high priest stood up and came forward and
questioned Jesus, saying, "Do You not answer? What is it that these men
are testifying against You?" 61 But
He kept silent and did not answer. Again the high priest was questioning Him, and
saying to Him, "Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?"
62 And Jesus said, "I am; and you
shall see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING WITH
THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN." 63 Tearing
his clothes, the high priest *said, "What further need do we have of
witnesses? 64 "You have heard the
blasphemy; how does it seem to you?" And they all condemned Him to be
deserving of death. 65 Some began to
spit at Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him with their fists, and to say
to Him, "Prophesy!" And the officers received Him with slaps in the
face.” (Mark 14:53-65)
Mark does not include the first portion of the trial, but
John does write about it. “12 So the
Roman cohort and the commander and the officers of the Jews, arrested Jesus and
bound Him, 13 and led Him
to Annas first; for he was father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high
priest that year. 14 Now Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it
was expedient for one man to die on behalf of the people John 18:12-14.” This part of the trial was to get charges
that they could present to the next phase of Jesus’ trial. Mark mentions Peter following these events
and John also mentions them in his account, but we will look at what Peter did
in the next SD. We see in verse 55 that
what these rulers wanted to accomplish was the death of Jesus for it says, “trying
to obtain testimony against Jesus to put Him to death.” This was not at trial but this was a great
miscarriage of true justice for they had made up their minds before this all
began for they had been trying to kill Jesus for almost three years, but it was
not His time to die until He did die.
Jesus stated that no one would take His life, but that He would lay it
down when He wanted to do so. Verse
56-58 speak of the false testimony that was given against Jesus and one of the
things that they were saying was that Jesus said that He would destroy the
temple and rebuild it again without hands.
Jesus never said this, but spoke of His body as the temple: “John 2:19
Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will
raise it up.’”
Isaiah’s prophecy about
this even give insight into why Jesus did not speak at His trial very much, but
spoke only a few times to answer questions about who He was. “Isa 53:7
He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is
led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He
did not open His mouth.” I remember
visiting a church in Florida one spring around Easter time and the Pastor of
the church gave an illustration that showed how Jesus died like a lamb. He stated that there was a man who worked in
a slaughter house whose job was to kill the cattle, but one day his boss gave
him a lamb to kill. The little lamb just
crawled into his lab and sat there while the man killed it. The man went to his boss and told him that if
he had to continue to kill lambs that he would have to quit his job. Isaiah stated that the Messiah would not open
His mouth, but die like a lamb.
In verses 61-62 the high priest was amazed that Jesus did
not speak, but then asked Jesus if He was the Son of the most Blessed to which
Jesus answered that question by stating that He was and would soon be sitting
at the right hand of God, “The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at My right hand
Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.’” (Psalm 110:1)
In verse 63 we see that the high priest tore his
clothes. This was only to be done when
he had heard blasphemy, which is what he thought that he heard. In the remaining verses the verdict is given
and people begin to hit the Lord Jesus and spit upon Him. Jesus told His disciples that this was going
to happen to Him before He went to Jerusalem but they did not understand it
until after they had received the Holy Spirit in Acts chapter two.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: What I see in
this section of Scripture is the worst thing that has ever happened, and yet
the best thing that ever happened. Why
did it happen? Genesis 3:15 has been on
my mind for some time now and the reason it has been is because it is the first
prophecy given about the Lord Jesus Christ.
The rest of the OT talks about how and when Messiah would arrive and the
beginning of the NT announces that He has arrived in the form of a little baby
born to a virgin, making Him the Seed of a woman as Genesis 3:15 stated.
I also think of how all of this was in the perfect plan
of God as He took the worst thing to happen in human history and made it the
best thing to happen in human history. I
can learn from that for many times bad things happen in my life that are in the
plan of God for my life and I have to remember that if God could make the worst
thing that happens the best things that happens then He can do similar things
to the bad things that happen in my life.
(See Romans 8:28)
Now we know that those who were apart of this miscarriage
of justice are now in hell awaiting their trial that will happen at the Great
White Throne Judgment. There crime was
not believing who Jesus is. Many people
today still have that problem, but they don’t have to end up like these people
who tried Jesus ended up for Ro 10:9 states: “ that if you confess with your
mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the
dead, you will be saved.”
My Steps of Faith for Today: Remember the truth of Romans 8:28. Continue to learn contentment, and continue
to learn more about the Word of God so it can transform my mind so that I can
be more like Jesus.
Memory verses for the
week: Psalm 121:1-8
1 I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where
shall my help come? 2 My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. 3
He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold,
He who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The LORD is your keeper;
The LORD is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun will not smite you by day,
Nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep
your soul. 8 The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in From this
time forth and forever.
Turning Points Wisdom for
Today: “Silence is the element in which
great things fashion themselves.”
(Thomas Carlyle) “In returning
and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your
strength.” (Isaiah 30:15)
1/23/2013 2:06 PM
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